What Makes Your Identity Special?

 

Identity is a hot topic lately. Who are you? What are you?

And the hottest identity topic of all these days is related to human sexuality and gender.

When we meet someone new, one of the first questions we ask is their name. That question is quickly followed up with another. “What do you do?” Perhaps what we’re really asking is, What makes you special?

The world defines special in terms such as appearance, talent, financial status, power, and even sexuality.

How does God define you? Maybe you’re thinking the Bible tells us we are to be loving, patient, kind, obedient, and sacrificial. Is that what makes us special in God’s eyes?

What makes us special is our true identity. And our true identity is the eternal part of us. Every person has an eternal soul that will exist forever. Daniel 12:1-2 tells us all those who “sleep” in death will awake to one of two destinations: eternal life or eternal punishment.

 

New Identity

A relationship with God in Christ results in eternal new life. And new life in Christ always results in a new identity. This new identity is marked by specific characteristics listed by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesian church:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy & blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom & understanding.  ~ Ephesians 1:3-8

Did you catch all the descriptions in this passage that make our identity special?

You and I are special because we are:

 

Blessed

We are the object of God’s favor. In Christ—and only in Christ—we have been favored with “every spiritual blessing,” including salvation, the indwelling Holy Spirit, new life, grace, faith, the fruit of the Spirit, righteousness, and answered prayer.

 

Chosen

We were chosen before the world was created to be adopted.

 

Adopted

Adoption changes the legal status of a child. John 1:12 tells us “To all who received [Christ], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” All humanity is God’s creation, but we become His children when we believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior who redeemed us.

 

Redeemed

We are redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice for us. Redemption is the payment of the required ransom for the release of a person from bondage. It pictures a slave in the slave market being purchased and then freed. Christ’s death on the cross paid the purchase price of our slavery to sin. How special are you to your heavenly Father? Consider the extent God went to in order to buy you back!

 

Forgiven

Every sin, large or small, is ultimately against God Himself. Sin is rooted in an attitude of rebellion—a desire to live independently apart from God’s authority over us. Redemption restores our relationship with Him, and confession keeps this relationship unobstructed, a bit like removing plaque from arteries so lifeblood can flow.

 

Loved

God did all of this because He loves us. He sent Jesus because He loves the world. And everyone in the world has a choice to either accept or reject that love. A child of God in Christ is loved with an everlasting love. A supernatural love that has our best interests at heart.

 

We live in a world where people are searching for identity apart from a relationship with their Creator. They’re identifying by their looks, talent, ability, or sexuality. But they’re looking in all the wrong places.

But what makes our identity special is that the God of the universe calls us His own!